On Friday night at Citizens Field, the Eastside football team spoiled Gainesville’s Senior Night thanks to a combination of offense, defense and special teams.
The latter set the tone as the visiting Rams defeated the Hurricanes, 33-0, for their third straight shutout in the series.
“It’s a rivalry game, it means a lot to these kids,” said Eastside coach Harold “Gator” Hoskins. “They’ve been competing and playing against these guys since little league football, so it was a big win, a big win tonight.”
GHS (5-5) began its second offensive possession at its own 35-yard line and moved the ball down the field to the Eastside 10-yard line.
Senior Devin Johnson had an 18-yard reception from junior quarterback Nelson Tambling and a 23-yard run on the drive.
The drive stalled, and the Hurricanes lined up for a 21-yard field goal to try to take the first lead of the game.
However, Eastside senior Victor White blocked sophomore Alex Probert’s kick and the Rams returned it to midfield.
“Big block,” Hoskins said. “That’s something that we work on in practice. I tell the boys that the way you play is the way you practice and that’s something we work on a lot.”
The Rams scored the only points they would need just two plays later on a 50-yard touchdown run down the Eastside sideline by freshman Javaris Gardner with 10:03 to play in the second quarter. The extra point was blocked but the Rams made a 6-0 lead hold up.
It went from bad to worse for the Hurricanes on their next possession.
They were facing a 3rd-and-2 from their own 31-yard line when the ball was snapped over the head of senior Calvin Thomas and ended up getting kicked into the end zone where Eastside junior Kamariyon Mack recovered for the touchdown.
The 2-point conversion run failed, but Eastside led 12-0 with 8:56 to play in the half.
On its next possession, GHS turned the ball over again as Eastside junior linebacker Demarco Daniels intercepted a pass in Eastside territory and took it to the house for a pick-6.
However, Eastside was called for holding, bringing the ball back to the GHS 19-yard line. The Rams finished off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep by junior Caylen Ferguson for a 19-0 lead with 2:18 to play in the half.
“We were right where we were hoping to be and we were right on the doorstep of having a chance to score and we had an incomplete pass and then we gave up a blocked kick, and then gave up big return off of that, and then a big play on defense,” said Gainesville coach Ian Scott. “You can’t beat a team like that with those types of mistakes.”
Eastside, which won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, got the ball to start the third quarter and marched 72 yards for the score, capping the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by junior running back Kenneth Mcclellan (4 carries for 25 yards).
Senior Corvin Byrd carried the ball 14 times for 102 yards and a touchdown and Gardner had seven carries for 94 yards and a score.
“Dang, I should have gotten him 100,” Hoskins said of Gardner. “But I’m proud of those guys. They practice their butts off, they run the ball really, really hard. I’m proud of a kid like Corvin Byrd, a senior, last time playing GHS. This means a lot to him.”
For the game, the Rams rushed for 240 yards on 29 carries.
“It feels great,” Byrd said of the win. “They beat us in the spring, so we had to come back and take what was ours. I had fun. I want to thank my linemen because they came out and did what they had to do. They led me to the promised land, so I want to give a big shoutout to my linemen.”
Byrd had the final score of the night on a 6-yard run with eight minutes to play in the game.
Defensively, Eastside held GHS to just 70 yards rushing and pitched their second straight shutout this season.
“The defense has been playing great football,” Hoskins said. “We put them in a couple of bad positions on offense…but the defense stepped up when it mattered.”
Freshman cornerback Malicah Williams, who had two interceptions against Sandalwood (Jacksonville) a couple of weeks ago, picked off two more passes in Eastside territory.
“Stingy defense,” Hoskins said. “Those guys bring the intensity every week in practice. They practice their butts off, and they love each other, and it shows out there on the field.”
Eastside, which improved to 7-2 with its sixth straight win, will travel to South Sumter (Bushnell) next Thursday for the Class 3A-District 5 championship with a chance to win its third straight district title.
Meanwhile, Gainesville’s season came to an end, but with a 4-game improvement over last season.
“I do feel like we left a little on the bone this season, opportunities to win a couple more games that we left out there and maybe the season looks a little different but our guys have made a lot of progress and they need to be proud of that and I hope people allow them to be proud of that,” Scott said. “Once we’re able to reflect and remember what we’ve done and where we’ve come from and where we still have to go, hopefully people will understand the positive steps that our team has made this season.”
Thursday, Oct. 31
Buchholz 14, Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach) 7
Cedar Creek Christian (Jacksonville) 36, St. Francis Catholic Academy 8 *
Friday, Nov. 1
Eastside 33, Gainesville 0
Hawthorne 38, Orlando Christian Prep 7
Dixie County (Cross City) 26, Santa Fe (Alachua) 21
Impact Christian Academy (Jacksonville) 44, P.K. Yonge 21
Newberry 37, Trinity Catholic (Ocala) 14
St. Joseph Academy (St. Augustine) 52, Oak Hall 19 *
Bell 53, Bronson 0 *
Chiefland 30, Union County (Lake Butler) 29
Williston 49, KIPP Bold City (Jacksonville) 7
Columbia (Lake City) 42, North Miami Beach 0
Fleming Island (Orange Park) 45, Fort White 0
Suwannee (Live Oak) 25, Chiles (Tallahassee) 24
Branford 39, Hamilton County (Jasper) 12
Crescent City 26, Keystone Heights 10
Trenton 42, Tenoroc (Lakeland) 23
*SSAA playoffs
Editor’s note: This story was updated with a complete recap.
